The Strength of a Wolf is the Pack
by xXCOMMANDERXx
Summary: When a stranger steps out of the Forbidden Forest and informs Remus that he is wanted to meet with 'Alpha', James, Sirius, and Peter are left clueless. What will happen when the three accompany their fellow werewolf Marauder to the meeting?
1. Prologue

There was a loud _'thud'_ as Sirius dropped another arm-full of firewood to the grass. The school grounds were darkening, as the sun had almost completely dissapeared, and all colors had merged into a blur of twilight-grey.

"This is outrageous- my back will be sore for days!" he complained, as soon as Hagrid's large sillhouette dissapeared into the small hut.

"Oh lighten up Padfoot, this isn't _nearly _as bad as some of McGonagalls detentions!" Remus offered, dumping his load onto the designated spot as well. "Like remember last week, when she made us scrape all of the gum off the desks, _without_ magic?"

"Or that time, when we had to collect _all _of the leaves from the Quidditch field!" Added James, after the _'thud' _of his logs.

"Or when she forced us to clean out Slughorn's potions closet!" Contributed Peter, though not quite as loudly as his friends.

The four Marauders were currently serving one of eight evening-detentions, their punishment for charming the tables in the Great Hall to stick to the ceiling. It had been an ingenious prank, as Sirius had rightly commented, by as usual it didn't amuse the teachers. Well, perhaps Dumbledore had liked it- he had even offered them his congratulations on "such intricate wand-work."

James Potter, the star of the Quidditch team, the apple of most girls' eyes, picked up a large rock and threw it into the Forbidden Forest. He was standing closer to it than the other Marauders, and had even thought about trying to explore it- but the utter darkness which lay inside had put him off. He wore black jeans and a baggy red T-shirt, as it was after classes. His already messy hair was made more so by the light wind, which howled through the school grounds, disturbing the Whomping Willow; which shivered violently. Sharp, blue eyes could be seen from behind James's round glasses as he cast a long glance over the horizon.

Sirius Black, charming as always, was wearing worn blue jeans and a black, long-sleeved shirt which showed his muscles spectacularly. His jet-black, elegant hair few playfully into his eyes, which were a rare silvery grey. He stared angrily at the large pile of fire-wood, as if just_looking_ at it would move it from one place to another. He kicked a gnarled root with his boot in frustration- this was long, hard, tiring work, and to add to it all their wands had been taken by McGonagall for the night! He sighed, aware of how handsome this made him look- with his strong jaw, high cheek-bones, and general good looks, he was always the center of _any _girl's attention. With maybe the exception of McGonagall. Or not, who knows?

Remus Lupin, though looking rather pale and worn out, was actually feeling pretty good- the full moon was only a few days away, and with it came heightened senses, strength and agility, speed, and in-human reflexes. Even thought he would never say so, the logs he was carrying seemed weightless, and his muscles felt no strain at all- his friends weren't aware of this, as Remus had refrained from telling them. He didn't know why, but what good would it do anyway? He was wearing black jeans and an over-sized grey sweater, even thought the cold had little effect on him- in fact, he was feeling uncomfortably hot, despite the cold night air and sharp wind. His wispy, sand-colored hair almost completely covered his eyes, which were a strange, deep shade of amber. Scars criss-crossed his face, scars which not many people bothered to look past.

Peter Pettigrew shivered against the biting wind, hugging himself tightly. He wore baggy jeans, an orange jacket, and a scarf bearing Gryffindor colors; this wasn't a very attractive ensemble, but he didn't really mind. All of the girls went for either James or Sirius, and he had learnt to live with it. He shuffled over to the shrinking pile of logs, which had been at least twice as big when the boys had started. It was tedious work, and to do it without magic was incredibly frustrating; Peter sniffed, and began to feel worried- what if he caught a cold out here? His short, dirty-blonde hair whipped furiously around, never quite reaching his face. He had a slightly up-turned nose and a splash of freckles, whose numbers had decreased steadily as he got older. Peter shivered again, and picked up yet another three or four logs.

"At this rate, we'll be done by morning!" Sirius exclaimed with mock-enthusiasm.

Remus rolled his eyes, walking over to the pile yet again.

"We'll be done faster if you'd just stop complaining!" He said, grinning.

"But Moony..." Sirius whined, sounding like a five year old deprived of ice-cream. "I need to-"

"Shhh!" Remus cut him off. The sandy-haired boy looked around, looking like a dog that had just picked up a scent.

"Don't 'shush' me, you-"

_"Shush!"_

The other boys stopped what they were doing now- Remus was _never _rude, and that was a fact.

"What is it Rem?" James inquired, walking up to his friend.

"I think I-"

"Well done, cub, I hadn't expected it from you..."

All four Marauders turned quicker than lighting towards the sound of this new voice, which had come from...

_No, _Sirius thought, _it can't be..._

A shadowed figure walked out of the Forbidden Forest, heading towards the four startled boys.

Remus's eyes widened- surely this wasn't... no, it wasn't possible. But as the stranger came closer, the werewolf's suspicions were confirmed, and he let out a low, feral growl. His three friends glanced at him sideways, unaware that their pet book-worm was capable of any form of intimidation. And yet, at the sight of Remus they felt slightly uneasy- his shoulders had risen, and his hands balled into fists; he looked genuinely frightening.

"What do you want, Mason?" he growled, his voice dangerously low.

"Alpha wants to see you, cub, tomorrow night. In the forest." The man answered. He was tall and muscular, and many scars covered his smirking face.

_Just like Remus... _James thought. An idea occured to him- was this... _Mason _another werewolf?

"I hold no more ties to the pack, he has no right to demand this." Remus spat venomously, still glaring at the older man.

"He said you would say that," Maons smiled, "and to tell you that if you don't come, a little birdie will 'accidentaly' tweet about your... little secret. We wouldn't want that, now would we?"

Remus went pale, though the fear only showed in his eyes. He remained on guard, looking like he was about to pounce onto the much larger man.

When Remus said nothing, Mason smirked and continued-

"No, I didn't think so. Alpha says you can bring the One-Souls, as long as they aren't armed," he added, almost lazily, gesturing to a confused James and Sirius, and a cowering Peter.

At that, the man bowed his head down, greatly surprising three of the Marauders. Remus, however, returned the gesture, and both werewolves stood like this for a few seconds; before Mason ran back into the dark forest, faster than James, Sirius, or Peter had ever seen anybody run.

For a few minutes the four boys stood in silence. Finally, James started-

"Remus, who was tha-" but this was as far as he got, for Remus sprinted off towards the castle faster than _Mason_ had, leaving James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew with their mouthes hanging open.


	2. A Story Told

As the next day dawned, with it came an armada of questions parading through James, Peter, and Sirus's heads'; when the hell did Remus get so... fast?! Who _was_ this Mason? And what was this about a pack? And 'Alpha'?

The three boys were constantly whispering such questions back and forth behind Remus's back, but he hardly noticed. He seemed distant, wary, even angry... the full moon was a mere two three days away now, but even taking _that_ into account Remus's behaviour was unusual. Sirius was getting more and more frustrated by this, and- after speaking with James and Peter of course- they decided to question Remus in their dormitory, that night.

* * *

When the time came, the three Marauders were waiting for their friend in the dorm. Moonlight poured in from the open window, and the grounds were eerily silent- not even the Whomping Willow's usual noises could be heard, not even the sounds of Hagrid training Fang, not even-

But Sirius's train of thought was inturrupted by Remus, who had just entered the room and was looking at three boys in surprise.

"What are you doing up- it's past midnight you know," he said, sounding slightly amused. But the werewolf's smile dissapeared when he noticed his friends' serious expressions, and he sat down on his bed without further comments.

"Remus, we want- no, we _need_ to talk." Sirius said quietly, a determined note in his voice. "When we found out about your... 'furry little problem,' you said no more secrets, remember?"

Remus didn't answer, but looked down at the floor.

"You promised, Moony."

The werewolf looked up, into his friends' eyes. He nodded, and Sirius breathed an audible sigh of relief. Remus sat down on his bed, so he was facing the other three Marauders.

"I was bitten when I was five, almost ten years ago now," he started, "by Alph- by Fenrir Greyback."

Sirius's eyes visibly widened, and he opened his mouth, though no words came out.

Remus noticed this-

"Do you... know him, Padfoot?"

"Not really, no. But he's mentioned often in my parents' conversations..."

Remus's gaze softened- his parents were something Sirus didn't like to bring up, so he didn't probe any further. What good would it do anyway?

"Oh, I'm sorry." Remus offered, sounding genuinely concerned. Sirius merely smiled, and motioned for Remus to carry on.

"After I was bitten, I..." Remus paused for a moment, swallowing. "I didn't really go back to my parents."

The other three Marauders exchanged glanced, before looking back at their friend questioningly.

"Well, where did you go then?" Sirius asked, and James couldn't help but grin at his obvious lack of tact.

"I stayed with Alpha." The werewolf answered, looking back down. "The Pack took me in, as they do everyone that they bite. I stayed with them for... for five years."

A ringing silence filled the dorm as James, Sirius, and Peter gaped at Remus- _five years?!_ Five years with that lunatic Greyback? All three boys had heard of the man- he was wanted for Azkaban for murder, rape, theft, and a six-foot-long list of other assorted and equally gruesome charges.

Sirius vaguely wondered how he could have even gotten _onto _the Hogwarts grounds, weren't there some kind of defenses against that? But he decided to leave it for another time, right now he wanted to hear the rest of Remus's story. He leaned in closer as his friend continued-

"But you must understand, the Pack wasn't _always _like it is now- Alpha has turned it into his own, private murderers society." Remus almost spat this last part, his brows knitted together in anger.

"Before Greyback became Alpha, the Pack was a way for werewolves to _help _each other, when the rest of the world turned it's back on them- to stay _together, _and _live_ together. Wolves _are _pack animals you know, and strangely enough that goes for _were_wolves too.

"That's what it was like when _I _was bitten, and while I was there I hardly missed my parents at all," he chuckled. "But three years later, Greyback challenged Willow- who was Alpha back then- and won; he was younger, and stronger. Greyback became our leader, and that's when this whole mess started- before, we stayed as far away from One-Souls as possible, living mostly in the forest; we were in constant fear of spreading our curse. But when _Greyback _took over, he ordered us to get as _near_ to a village as possible on moon-nights, so as to bite as many One-Souls as possible and add numbers to the Pack. Nobody could disobey- the penalty for disobeying an Alpha is death."

Remus went quiet and nobody dared to speak. After some time, James gathered up the courage and asked-

"So how did _you _get out?"

Remus smiled.

"I was lucky- we were running out of food, and Alpha sent me out to hunt; the rest of the Pack had gone into a nearby village, so I was left to go alone. As soon as I was far enough that Alpha could no longer pick up my scent, I ran. I ran for god knows how long, until I reached a small cottage at the edge of the forest- it belonged to an old man, who we had often seen, but never approached. Alpha never spoke of the cottage, so I assumed he either didn't know about it or had forgotten.

"Worn out, I spent the night there, and in the morning the old man found me and chased me away. I was ten years old then, and could have easily taken him- Alpha had trained us well- but I knew I needed to get as far away from the forest as possible anyway. By this time I was showing signs of being a wizard, something which I had always hidden from my Pack-mates. I ran until I reached some large settlement, and later the locals told me that I had fallen unconscious from exhaustion. I stayed with them for a few more days, before deciding to return home, to my parents.

"It took almost a three months, but I managed to find the small village where I was born, and made my way back to the house. At first, my parents didn't recognise me, but after explanations, stories, and pleas, they took me back in. I was so sorry I had ever left them... After I returned they looked _everywhere, _asked _everyone, _trying to find a cure for my lycanthropy. And, though this was impossible, they never gave up.

"Ten months later I received my Hogwarts letter, surprised to no end. I had never thought..."

Remus paused for a moment, allowing himself a small, ghost of a smile.

"Well, you know the rest." He finished.

James, Peter, and Sirius were still staring at him intently taking in every word- their faces at time showed fear, or disbelief, or amazement. They couldn't believe why Remus hadn't told them all of this earlier, and Sirius even managed to feel a little hurt, but it soon washed away as he thought about it. What would they have said then?

What could they say _now?_

"Moony, I..." Sirius started, but trailed off as he realized he had absolutely no idea what to say.

"Remus, why didn't you tell us this before?" James asked, as if reading Sirius's mind.

Remus shrugged, smiling sadly.

"Why does it matter? It's in the past, and honestly... if not for you guys, I would be _sad _that it's in the past."

His fellow Marauders looked at him with open mouthes at first, but then understanding dawned on their faces and they smiled.

"Actually, I have a question or two..." Sirius ventured, still smiling.

"Yes, Mr. Black?" Remus drawled, his imitation of McGonagall perfect, as usual. Sirius snickered, before asking-

"What the hell is a One-Soul, and I think I know what moon-nights and... what was that Mason said... ah, _pre_-moon nights are, but could you please clarify? Oh, and who _was _that Mason bloke? And did you really _smell _him, or am I going loopy? No offense, Lupin. Yes, and how the _hell _did you run that fast?!"

It all came out in a rush, and when he finished Sirius was left gasping for air; unable to stand it all four boys burst out laughing, causing Sirius's gasping to intensify.

When they finally finished, Sirius looked at Remus expectantly, and the werewolf attempted to answer his questions;

"One-Souls... how to explain... well, when a person becomes a werewolf, their very _soul _sort of... splits into two- then man, and the wolf. This mean they have _two _souls. In some, the human side is stronger, in others the wolf side becomes dominant, like in Alpha. A human can only have _one _soul, therefore it is only logical to call them One-Souls. Thus, the name. I'm sorry if it confused you, but thinking about all of this made me remember these things, and it's sort hard to hold them back now. Sort of like a British man trying to speak in an American accent..." The werewolf trailed off, smirking to himself.

Sirius nodded, along with James. Peter, who was silent through the whole exchange, didn't move a muscle.

"And moon-nights are nights of the full moon, right?" inquired James, looking at Remus with interest. The werewolf nodded. "And a pre-moon night is the night before?" Another nod.

"What about Mason?" Sirius asked, looking at interested as his Quidditch-playing friend.

Remus's smile faltered, but he soon recovered-

"Mason was- and still is, no doubt- Greyback's Beta; in the Pack, a Beta is sort of like the second in command. They are in charge of the cubs- young werewolves- and lead most attacks and hunts, as well as being responsible for the Pack's supply of food. But Mason..."

Remus's face darkened.

"He was always a followed of Alpha, even before he took over- they plotted this together, the pair of them." The werewolf scowled and bared his teeth, something which nobody present had _ever _seen him do- well, not as a human at least. If one of _them _had attempted this, it would have looked ridiculous- but now, as Remus did it, they felt the urge to back away. Remus must have noticed this, for he stopped and looked at his fellow Marauders, fear and hurt in his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said weakly, "it's just... with Alpha so close, I'm..." he swallowed. "I'm afraid."

Remus looked down in shame, his hand moving instinctively to his shoulder, where the scar from when he had been bitted throbbed painfully. This had never happened before, but Remus guessed it was something to do with Greyback being near. He shuddered to think what it would feel like when they came face to face.

"Rem, you know it's okay." Sirius offered softly. "Hey, what about the running thing? How did you do _that?_" he asked, in an attempt to cheer up his friend.

Remus smiled, lifting his head back up.

"Oh, that's just one of the side effects of being... well, what I am. And yes Padfoot, I _did _smell him." Remus added as Sirius opened his mouth once again.

"Why didn't you tell us?" James asked, for the second or third time in the last hour.

Remus shrugged.

"Anything else we should know?" Sirius asked in a mock-scolding voice, causing Remus to smirk.

"There's a few more... er, side effects, like strength, smell, reflexes... I don't really feel the cold either." Remus shrugged again.

"Wait a minute... strength, did you say?" Sirius asked again, raising an eyebrow as his facial muscles twisted into the mischevious expression that Remus, James, and Peter knew all too well.

"Yes..." The sandy-haired boy nodded tenatively, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, I wager you still can't match the strength of Sirius Black!" Padfoot pronounced in triumph, more that a little louder than necessary.

"Or James Potter!" Added Prongs at the same volume, if not louder.

Remus laughed- it was just like these two to boast about their strength. He had usually held back _his_, something he was now used to.

_Maybe... _Remus thought, _maybe just this once..._

"You're on!" The werewolf answered, determination showing in his voice. James and Sirius beamed, eager to prove their friend wrong. After all, they were the strongest, right?

"I call first!" Sirius shouted suddenly causing Peter, who was sitting beside him, to jump and rub his ear irritably. Remus laughed, feeling amused already.

"Over on the table Moony, come on!" Sirius called after bounding over to said table, already sitting on one of the chairs, arm up and ready.

Remus scoffed inwardly, but remaind silent as he walked over. James and Peter stood beside them, James by Sirius and Peter by Remus.

"Don't forget, _Remmy, _that last time we did this you lost!" Sirius taunted, smirking. Remus merely smiled.

"Alright, before we start let me set down some rules-" James began dramatically, causing the other three boys to roll their eyes. "There'll be no spitting, biting, shoving-"

Sirius scoffed.

"-growling, snarling, clawing-"

"Yes, Prongs, we get it!" Remus interrupted, the amused note never leaving his voice.

James pretended to look hurt, clutching his 'wounded' heart. But he soon continued-

"Alright, ready-"

Remus and Sirius tensed.

"set- and..._go!"_

One second... two secon- wait. James blinked.

"For Merlin's sake Moony, you can let go now!" Sirius whined. His muscular arm was being held down by Remus's scarred one, and he was struggling to get free.

Remus mock-yawned; this was more fun than he'd expected! It had taken extremely little effort to pin down Sirius, and almost none to hold him there.

"But- how- you- Padfoot-" James stuttered. Remus couldn't help but laugh at this, but Sirius sent him a glare and the werewolf tried to cover it up with a cough. Unsuccessfully.

Finally he let him go, and Sirius clutched his aching arm. Everyone in the room was staring, slack-jawed, at Remus- who blushed slightly.

"I'm going to bed now, goodnight." He said slowly, walking back over to his bed. He procceded to close the curtains and change into his pyjamas, after which his usual clothes were thrown perfectly into his trunk, and Remus fell alseep as soon as his head hit the pillow; still smiling.


	3. Nightmarish Memories

_Something rustled violently in the bushes, causing the small, five year old boy to spin and face them. Two huge, glowing amber eyes were mere inches away from the boy's light blue, and he could hear the rabid breath of the creature. He stepped back- only to trip and fall. _

_ The eyes narrowed, and a low growl sounded from the shaking bush. A massive, fur-covered paw came into view, eliminated by the moonlight- with long, hooked claws the size of knives; the boy stood up and backed away frantically, only to fall again and sprawl out onto the moss-covered forest floor. Another paw emerged, followed by the beast's head, which was easily as big as the boy himself. Sharp, dagger-like canine teeth could be seen, as they were bared and ready to strike. The strange, wolf-like creature stepped openly into the small clearing, getting closer and closer to the trembling boy, who found he couldn't move a muscle. He crammed his watering eyes shut, muscles tensing up. _

_ The beast opened it's powerful jaws wide, leaning in..._

Remus awoke thrashing about and wrestling with his bedcovers, cold sweat rolling down his face. He groaned- another nightmare; would they ever let him rest? What scared him most was not the fear itself, but the knowledge that this wasn't so much a nightmare, as a memory. He briskly wiped his forehead with a pyjama sleeve, sitting up. To try and sleep _now _was pointless, so instead the werewolf got up, checked his alarm clock- which showed five twenty-seven a.m.- and made his way quietly to the shower room.

He leaned in close to the mirror, inspecting his amber eyes. He missed seeing the light, carefree blue there, instead of this infernal gold- it gave him one too many things in common with Alpha.

"Hey Moons, what are you doing up?"

Sirius's voice barely startled Remus- he had hear the approaching footfalls- but he was still surprised to see the boy up and about.

"I could ask you the same question- I've tried for _years _to wake you and Prongs up earlier than nine, but with little success; and now you get up at five thirty? Are you ill?" he asked in a mock-horror, pretending to check Sirius's temperature. The black-haired boy grinned, swatting Remus's hand away.

"I don't know, I just... oh never mind why I'm up." Sirius concluded irritably, rubbing his temple in a Remus-like fashion. "I wanted to talk to you, I guess."

Remus tilted his head to one side questioningly, something that Sirius, James, and Peter had gotten used to seeing.

"Actually, we _all _want to talk to you." Sirius continued, gesturing towards where James and Peter were still sleeping- or, in James's case, snoring loud enough to terrify a boggart.

Remus nodded, frowning- he had told them everything, had he not?

* * *

An hour and thirty-five minutes later, James dragged himself out of bed to find- a fully dressed- Sirius and Remus playing exploding snap on the small table. This was normal for Remus, who never slept later than six-thirty, but at this un-godly hour Sirius would usually join James in their traditional hop-on-one-leg-as-you-look-for-a-clean-pair-of-pants dance, a sort of hip and jazz mix.

"Padfoot, are you ill?" James inquired worriedly, though in a more serious tone than Remus had earlier that morning.

Sirius laughed, shaking his head and managing to look hurt-

"What, is Remus the only one who's allowed to get up early?"

"Well... _yes!" _

All three boys broke out laughing, which did nothing at all to improve James's 'dancing.' He fell flat on his face, luckily into a pile of clothes- such piles were all over the floor, save for around _Remus's _bed. All three boys were hysterical by now, and Sirius had to turn into a dog so he could breathe faster.

All the commotion woke up Peter, who mumbled something in his sleep before promptly falling out of bed, as per tradition. He took one look at the scene in front of him- James on the floor, face first, glasses askew, tangled in his trousers; a hystericall to the point of tears werewolf; and a huge black dog rolling around on the floor, _laughing_. Peter climbed back into bed- this could only be a dream.

"Come on Pete, help me!" James whined from the floor, where he struggled pointlessly. Finally, Remus took pity on the boy and helped him up, while the bear-like dog bounded up and rammed into James's side, causing him to fall again. The room was filled with laughter once more- even _James_ couldn't hold it in.

Ten minutes, a conjured leash, and Remus's strength later James managed to pull on his pants, as well as find a suitable shirt. Peter was already dressed, and backing away slowly from the huge, snarling dog.

"Come on Padfoot, change back before someone sees you!" Remus growled, still clinging onto the leash- which looked like it would give away at any given moment. The dog whined quietly, before changing into a handsome, fifteen-year-old boy, now with messed up hair, and clothing that looked like it had been trampled by a mountain troll.

Remus dropped the leash, which dissapeared instantly. Sirius mumbled something that sounded like "buzz-kill," before shoving Remus playfully. The werewolf scowled and shoved back, causing Sirius to fall onto his bed. Remus smiled sheepishly while the black-haired Animagus looked up at him in annoyance and awe.

"Oh yes, Prongs, didn't we have someting we wanted to, err, _discuss _with Moony here?" Sirius reminded James, causing Remus to frown. Between the Marauders, the word 'discuss' usually decoded to 'pester-until-death.'

"Yes, we did, didn't we?" Answered James, winking expertly. The two boys rounded on their friend, who was by this time almost completely backed into a corner.

"Do you remember Rem," started James, "when Mason said- and I quote- "You can bring the One-Souls-"; that's us, isn't it; "-as long as they aren't armed.""

Understanding dawned on the werewolf's face, but it was soon replaced by anger.

"What?! No! Absolutely not, you are _not _coming with me and that's _final! _" Remus hissed, hands balled into fists.

"Think about it Moony- you _know _that we'll go anyway, and what can you really do to stop us?" Sirius explained in mock-calm, successfully hiding the concern in his sharp, silver eyes.

Remus _did _think about it- he knew from experience that they wouldn't leave him alone until he agreed, and even if he _didn't_ agree there wasn't anything he could do without hurting them; and to add to that they had a test coming up in Charms, which Remus sorely needed to study for. He sighed.

"Fine, but how are you going to defend yourselves without wands?" The amber-eyed boy asked, defeated.

James and Sirius exchanged a mischevious glance, something which usually resulted in a week's detention.

"Don't worry Moons- remember our secret weapon!" Sirius exclaimed cheerfully, putting air quotes around 'secret weapon'.

Remaised raised a sceptical eyebrow, crossing his arms.

"And which weapon would _this _be, if I may ask?"

James and Sirius grinned, and barely a moment later before Remus stood a magestic stag wearing beautiful, lethal-looking antlers, with it's head bowed towards the floor; and a huge, bear-like black dog, panting heavily. The werewolf smiled- ah, the _magic_ of friendship... Literally...


End file.
